Chapter 4

Kirstie had only been downstairs with the others for about 20 minutes.. So, how Avi figured this out was beyond her comprehension. Mitch walked into the penthouse first, gasping at what he saw. Scott smirked at Avi and then pulled Mitch out of the way, so Kirstie could see what was going on. Todrick closed the door behind Kirstin, taking the bag from her hands. She stared at Avi, who waved her over to stand in the middle of the living room with him. Kevin was lighting the final candle in the corner of the room, one candle among dozens that Avi had put all over the place. Kirstie slowly walked over to stand in front of Avi. "Alpha..? What's going on..?" Todrick stood beside Kevin, smiling widely at the couple in front of them. Avi grabbed Kirstie's hand and kissed it, before slowly kneeling down in front of her. Kirstie's hand came up to cover her mouth as she slowly pieced together what was happening. Avi hissed at the pain in his back, but held up a hand when Scott tried to walk over and help. Kirstie shook her head, eyes never leaving Avi, as Avi pulled out a small black box from his back pocket. Mitch's eyes filled with tears, and Scott pulled him into his side, kissing his temple. Avi cleared his throat. "I've been holding onto this ring for a while now... I couldn't decide when I wanted to do this.. But I knew it would happen eventually. It's always been you, Kirstin. Always. The day I Marked you... All those months ago.. That was the day I got the ring. I knew I would never love anything more. I would never find anyone that I cared about more than I care about you." He opened the box, and Kirstie felt tears spring to her eyes. Avi smiled a little. "I know, I'm short tempered. I know I'm mean. I know that I can be difficult to be around... But somehow you've never left my side. Somehow... You've always been there to help me get back to normal, even when I got a little crazy. Even when my parents were here, even when I cried in front of you.. My weakest moments.. And you were always there to pick me back up. You were the only person who was on my side." He paused for a second, glancing around the room. Mitch was in tears, Scott smiling at him, and Kevin was walking over to the window to open the blinds and reveal a beautiful sunset taking place at that exact moment. Avi met Kirstin's eyes again. "So right here.. Right now.. I want you to be mine forever. We've Mated, we've Marked.. But this is something our instincts can't touch. This has nothing to do with what our bodies demand as mates. This is what my heart demands, as a human being. This isn't about a Lead Alpha and his Omega.. This is about a man with long hair falling in love with a beautiful woman who contains a heart of gold. Always optimistic, even in times where I find it impossible to do so. In conclusion... Kirstin Maldonado... Will you marry me?" Kirstie let her tears fall as she nodded frantically. "Yes! Oh my God, yes!" Avi stood up and hugged her, doing his best to ignore the pain in his back. Scott was the first to cheer, and then Todrick followed. Kevin clapped loudly, while Mitch was speechless as his tears fell down his face. Avi pulled away from Kirstie and then kissed her, slipping the ring on his Omega's finger simultaneously. Mitch turned and hugged Scott, suddenly overwhelmed with his emotions. Scott looked down at him with concerned eyes. "You okay, Pumpkin?" Mitch nodded and looked up to Scott with wet eyes. "That was just.. So beautiful." "I know, honey. Don't cry." Scott said as he wiped some of the tears from Mitch's eyes. Mitch turned and looked at Kirstin and Avi, who were still hugging. Then he ran over and pushed himself into the middle of the hug. Avi chuckled at him and continued to hug them.

Todrick skipped over and joined in, slowly followed by Kevin. Avi waited a second, before glancing over at Scott. He opened an arm towards him. "Come here, big guy." Scott shook his head at him, but walked over to the hug anyway. ********

Kirstin and Avi disappeared for the rest of that day, and weren't seen again until the morning. Todrick and Kevin cleaned up all the candles, being sure not to set off the fire alarm. They made it a kind of game, throwing all of the candles they blew out into a garbage bag. Mitch wanted to help too, but Scott being Scott didn't want him to get burnt, and said no. Mitch begged and pleaded, but Scott stayed firm in his decision. Todrick felt bad for him, and tried to make it seem like it wasn't fun at all, but failed. Scott finally sighed though. "Mitchie.. Come on. I said no." Mitch whined and grabbed Scott's forearm. "Please? Can I help, please?" "No." "It's basically cleaning. You've never had a problem with me cleaning before." "But that's different. You weren't at risk of getting a burn then. You are now. You're kind of prone to injury, if you haven't noticed. It's not a bad thing, it just means I have to be more careful with you. So the answer is no." Mitch moved his hand from Scott's arm and pouted. "But.. The Betas get to do it. And they're not getting burned." Scott felt himself getting a little annoyed. "Mitchell, what did I just say?" "I know. But--" "What did I say?" Scott repeated a little louder.

Mitch looked down at the ground like a child being scolded. "You said the answer is no." "So what does that mean?" "That means the answer is no..."

Scott nodded once, gave Kevin a look, and then lead Mitch to their room to get ready for bed. ********